ABSTRACT
We describe the intracranial pressure dynamics and cerebral vasomotor reactivity in a coronavirus disease 2019 patient with acute encephalitis treated with cerebrospinal fluid drainage and therapeutic plasma exchange. DATA SOURCES: Coronavirus disease ICU, Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden. STUDY SELECTION: Case report. DATA EXTRACTION: Radiology, intracranial pressure, intracranial compliance (correlation between intracranial pressure amplitude and mean intracranial pressure), cerebral vasomotor reactivity (pressure reactivity index), arterial blood pressure, cerebrospinal fluid chemistry, and treatment. DATA SYNTHESIS: None. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first reported case of intracranial pressure monitoring in a patient with acute encephalitis following coronavirus disease 2019. Intracranial pressure data exhibited a high incidence of plateau waves with intracranial pressure insults above 40 mm Hg that required cerebrospinal fluid drainage. Intracranial compliance was low, and pressure reactivity was intact. It is probable that the combination of low intracranial compliance and intact pressure autoregulation explain the high degree of plateau intracranial pressure waves and intracranial pressure variability. This case illustrates that it could be of value to consider intracranial pressure monitoring in selected coronavirus disease 2019 patients with suspicion of increased intracranial pressure to be able to confirm and treat intracranial hypertension if needed. In this patient, therapeutic plasma exchange was safe and efficacious as the level of neuroinflammation decreased and the patient regained consciousness.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: The purpose of our study was to compare visual rating and volumetry of brain atrophy in an elderly population over a 5-year period and compare findings with cognitive test results. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred and one subjects were examined with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. Visual rating and volumetry were performed in all subjects at ages 75 and 80. Cognitive function at both time points was assessed with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Trail Making Tests A and B (TMT-A and TMT-B). Changes in visual rating and volumetry were compared with changes in cognitive test. RESULTS: A correlation was found between visual rating of medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) and hippocampal volumetry at both time points (rs = -.42 and rs = -.49, p < .001, respectively). The correlation between visual rating of posterior atrophy (PA); frontal atrophy (F-GCA) and volumetry of these brain regions was significant only at age 80 (rs = -.16, p = .02 for PA and rpb = .19, p = .006 for F-GCA). Visual rating showed only a minimal progression of regional atrophy at age 80, whereas volumetry showed 2%-5% decrease in volume depending on brain region. Performance in the MMSE, TMT-A, and TMT-B was virtually unchanged between ages 75 and 80. CONCLUSION: We found a mild age-associated decrease in regional brain volumes in this healthy cohort with well-preserved cognitive functions. Visual assessment may not be sufficient for detecting mild progression of brain atrophy due to normal aging, whereas volumetry is more sensitive to capture these subtle changes.
Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease , Cognitive Dysfunction , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Atrophy , Brain/diagnostic imaging , Cognitive Dysfunction/diagnostic imaging , Female , Humans , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , MaleABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Functional imaging is becoming increasingly important for the detection of neurodegenerative disorders. Perfusion MRI with arterial spin labeling (ASL) has been reported to provide promising diagnostic possibilities but is not yet widely used in routine clinical work. The aim of this study was to compare, in a clinical setting, the visual assessment of subtracted ASL CBF maps with and without additional smoothing, to FDG-PET data. METHODS: Ten patients with a clinical diagnosis of dementia and 11 age-matched cognitively healthy controls were examined with pseudo-continuous ASL (pCASL) and 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). Three diagnostic physicians visually assessed the pCASL maps after subtraction only, and after postprocessing using Gaussian smoothing and GLM-based beta estimate functions. The assessment scores were compared to FDG PET values. Furthermore, the ability to discriminate patients from healthy elderly controls was assessed. RESULTS: Smoothing improved the correlation between visually assessed regional ASL perfusion scores and the FDG PET SUV-r values from the corresponding regions. However, subtracted pCASL maps discriminated patients from healthy controls better than smoothed maps. Smoothing increased the number of false-positive patient identifications. Application of beta estimate functions had only a marginal effect. CONCLUSION: Spatial smoothing of ASL images increased false positive results in the discrimination of hypoperfusion conditions from healthy elderly. It also decreased interreader agreement. However, regional characterization and subjective perception of image quality was improved.
